Love's Bitter Edge (Eva and Leonard)

"Is this the company's regulations or your regulations, Mr. Finnley?" I raised my voice. His office door was left open. It seemed like he wanted to let his team know who was the boss and deliberately didn't close it. "Cease your nonsense, Rinatta. You're the one who affected the company first." Mr. Finnley slammed the desk and shot to his feet, seemingly enraged.

"For one, you keep taking off days, which heavily impedes the work in progress. Now, the company has been attacked by public opinion because of your indecency. I don't care who recommended you for the job. In fact, not even Willis can save your ass now. I want you to get lost this instant!" He directly hurled my documents to the floor and looked at me with a grim expression.

I glanced at the document on Mr. Finnley's desk, and I finally figured out the reason he was targeting me relentlessly and maliciously.

The promotion system in the company was very strict. It didn't care about years of service. Instead, it only valued results.

I might not have been working here for a long time, but I had already contributed design works to major projects. Also, I was a permanent employee. If I continued down this path, I would soon steal his thunder. Furthermore, I used to be a design director.

Mr. Finnley had been holding onto his current position for two years. It was only normal for him to want to be promoted. Meanwhile, I was the hurdle to his career advancement. Naturally, he'd want to weed me out.

Mr. Finnley might've portrayed himself as an upstanding man, but he was actually a snake.

I chuckled. "Are you sure you want to fire me? That's fascinating. Please fire me according to the proper procedures and give me the severance pay plus one month's salary. Also, since you've fired me, you all can't continue to use the design proposal I submitted."

After all, I completed the design for a major project on my own. I had no intention of letting them take advantage of me. Although it would eventually bring benefits to Jack, I wasn't willing to go ahead with it.

The thought of Jack gave me a sudden urge to tattle on Mr. Finnley. If Jack were to give me support, I'd be able to use his authority to pull Mr. Finnley down a peg. However, I immediately shook the idea off. It'd be too indecent of me to do

something like that. Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

"That's impossible. The company is paying you for your work, so your designs belong to the company. Also, you can forget about your compensation. You've tarnished the company's reputation. So, you're not getting a cent out of this." I was so mad that I almost laughed. How shameless could he be?

"Is this how far you'll take it to make my design yours? Aren't you worried that I'll sue you?"

Such things were quite common in foreign countries. Astrid had told me multiple times about this. Although the legal procedures would take years, one wouldn't be able to keep working in the same industry once it was confirmed that one stole a design.

All of a sudden, Anne knocked on the door and approached me. "What's the matter? Are you trying to file a police case? You're not an Erewhonian, to begin with. You'll have to ask your embassy to handle this.

"If you want to involve two embassies in this mess, it's going to take three to five years before you'll see results. You can forget about working in the meantime."

I stared at Anne coldly. She was really good at manipulating people. If an ordinary designer went to the embassy to handle these matters, then it would probably take a long time. Anyone would be backed into a corner if they didn't have income in Erewhon for years.

I couldn't seek help from the embassy. With that said, I wasn't about to let them forcibly take my design away from me either.

I chuckled. "Fine. If this is how you want to do it, I hope you two won't beg for my mercy in the future."

I immediately packed up my stuff

and left the office. Before I walked

away, I sent a text to Ms. Tanness, "I've been fired. Don't tell Jack about it, though. I'll handle it myself. The project we're collaborating with

he hiccups. I

Edward might face some hiccups. I need you to keep an eye

it."